Hit and killed by a car maneuvering in the parking lot in front of a hospital. This is the tragic end of Esmeralda, a little girl of just two years old, in Turin, which has thrown an entire nomad community into despair and moved many inhabitants of the Piedmontese capital.
The injuries sustained in the accident were too extensive: the little girl, admitted yesterday afternoon in very serious conditions in the same hospital, San Giovanni Bosco, and then transferred to Regina Margherita, specialized in the care of minors, died yesterday morning. Her third cardiac arrest was fatal, making the efforts of the medical teams to save her life futile.
The Turin Local Police are investigating the accident and will have to hear the testimony of the driver of the car that hit the little girl. In a state of shock, she was also hospitalized. It is possible that in the parking lot the little girl escaped the control of her mother who was going to the San Giovanni Bosco hospital to visit a relative, as has been reconstructed.
The driver, on a very hot and muggy afternoon, did not see her while she was performing a maneuver. The Councilor for Social Policies of the City of Turin, Jacopo Rosatelli, denied that the woman and her daughter were begging, as initially reported by the press agencies . And this latest news has in any case triggered a political clash.
The first to speak was Maurizio Marrone (FdI), Councillor for Social Policies of the Piedmont Region: "It is unacceptable to allow nomads to drag minors with them into street begging. If the social services of the Municipality of Turin applied half the severity to Roma with which they order the removal of minors from other families, perhaps this tragedy could have been avoided". A concept also reiterated by the leader of the League, Deputy Prime Minister Matteo Salvini: "Poor little innocent, a prayer for her. But where are the assistants and social services who should save these children from a life on the streets and of theft, without school and without joy???".
Phrases, published on social media, which prompted an immediate reaction from Barbara Rosina, president of the Council of the Order of Social Workers: "Salvini is exploiting without knowing the facts. It is inconceivable and irresponsible to use the death of a two-year-old girl for political purposes. The vice president of the Council accuses us social workers and all social services. We are close to the family of little Esmeralda and far from Minister Salvini and from those who, like him, never seek solutions, but go so far as to manipulate the news to spread prejudice to the detriment of people and the profession".
Upon learning of Esmeralda's death, dozens of people gathered in front of the Regina Margherita.
(Online Union)